Shelf support mounting arrangement



Jan. 5, 1954 T A JANOS 2,655,101

SHELF SUPPORT MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT Filed Feb. 25 1950 Fig.2.

# Irn/entorn m 1 b9 His Attorney- Patented Jan. 5, 1954 SHELF SUPPORT MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT Alfred G. Janos, Erie, Pa., assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Application February 23, 1950, Serial No. 145,793

2 Claims. 1

My invention relates to shelf supporting structures and, more particularly, to arrangements 01 removably mounting shelf supporting strucures.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved shelf supporting structure and mounting arrangement therefor.

It is another object of my invention to provide a shelf supporting structure wherein the opening for receiving the shelf support may be easily formed in a wall or panel and wherein the shelf support may be easily assembled in the opening.

Further objects and advantages of my inven tion will become apparent as the following description proceeds and the features of novelty which characterize my invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming part of this specification.

In carrying out the objects of my invention, an opening having a plurality of inwardly extending arch-like projections is provided in a wall or panel to which a shelf supporting stud is to be attached, and a shelf supporting stud is employed which includes a corresponding number of parallel threads.

For a better understanding of my invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawing in which Fig. l is a View of a portion of a refrigerator illustrating an embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged end elevation view of the shelf support mounting assembly shown in Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a side elevation view of the assembly shown in Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a portion of a refrigerator I, including a liner providing a compartment 2 for the storage of food. Shelves are provided in the refrigerator for holding the food stored therein, one such shelf being shown at 3. In order to support the shelves a plurality of shelf supporting studs are secured to the liner which defines the food storage compartment 2. One such stud is indicated at 4 in Fig. 1. For proper support of each shelf there are normally provided four such studs, two being secured to each side wall of the liner.

In Figs. 2 and 3, there are shown enlarged views illustrating a portion of the liner or panel 5 on which the shelf support stud 4 is mounted. It is desirable that the shelf support studs be easily mounted on the liner in order to facilitate assembly and it is sometimes desirable that the studs be easily removable for replacement in case of damage during use. A number of schemes have been employed for mounting the studs; for example, openings have been punched in the wall or panel and the portion of the walls surrounding each opening has been shaped to provide a helical thread-engaging surface. Both of the desiderata discussed above are achieved by my construction without the necessity of such shaping of the adjacent surface of the liner.

In my arrangement, an opening 6 is stamped in the liner 5 for receiving a threaded portion 1 of the stud 4. The opening 6 is generally circular in shape and, in the form illustrated, the liner 5 adjacent the opening includes two projections 8, 9 extending into the opening 5 for engaging the threaded portion of the stud 4. The projections 8, 9 are disposed at diametrically opposite sides of the opening 6. These projections 8, '9 are each arch-like in configuration to provide a tip and are located in the plane of the liner 5 so that no shaping of the liner 5 other than the stamping from the liner of a piece the shape of the opening 6 is required.

In order that the stud 4 may be satisfactorily screwed into the opening 6 with the tips of the projections 8, 9 in proper engagement with the stud, two parallel threads Ill and II are provided on the portion 1 of the stud. The projection 8 extends into engagement with the thread l0 and the diametrically opposite projection 9 extends into engagement with the thread ll. Since two parallel threads are provided, it will be apparent that corresponding points along the threads, that is, points equidistant from the ends of the threads measured along the helical length of the threads, always occur at diametrically opposite points in planes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the stud. For example, points a, b, 0 along the thread Ill, as shown in Fig. 3, correspond to points a, b and c respectively, along thread II. The number of projections correspond to the number of parallel threads employed, name- 1y, two in the form illustrated, and these projections are in the plane of the liner 5. Therefore, when the stud is inserted in the opening 6 in a position perpendicular to the liner '5, one projection 8 is received in one thread I0 and the other projection 9 is received in the other thread H at a diametrically opposite point. As the stud is screwed into position, the projection 8 engages the thread I0 progressively at the points 0, b, a along the thread Ill and the projection 9 simultaneously engages the thread I I at the points c, b, and a respectively; the stud is, therefore, easily screwed into the opening 6 in the liner 5 perpendicular to the liner 5. In the finally asstruction illustrated can be provided as part of the molding operation. To minimize the possibility of binding of the screw during insertion or withdrawal, the major diameter d of the threaded portion I is made slightly smaller than 6 in the liner, and the minor diameter d, that is,

the distance between diametrically opposite points on the two threads at the roots thereof, for example, the distanc between points 0 and c, is chosen slightly smaller than the distance between the tips l4, I5 of the inwardly extending projections 8, 9 respectively.

It can be seen that by my invention a shelf support mounting assembly is provided wherein the shelf support stud is easily assembled and removed and wherein a simple stamping operation sufilces to provide the stud receiving opening without the necessity of any accurate shaping of the surface surrounding the opening and, specifically, without the necessity of forming threads or inclined projections around the edge of the opening for cooperating with stud threads.

While for purposes of illustration I have shown a structure which includes two diametrically opposite projections 8 and 9 cooperating with a stud having two parallel threads, other combinations of projections and multiple thread studs may be employed. For example, three projections may be provided equally spaced about the perimeter of the opening, that is, at 120 intervals, and a-stud having three parallel threads may be utilized, and so forth. In the case of the three-projection, three-thread structure, the radial distance from the axis of the stud to the outer circumference of the threads, which may be referred to as the major radius of the threaded portion of the stud, is chosen slightly smaller than radius of the generally circular opening in the liner. The radial distance from the axis of the stud to the bottom or root of the threads, which may be referred to as the minor radius, is chosen slightly smaller than the radial distance from the center of the opening in the liner to the inner extremity of each of the inwardly extending projections.

While the number of projections preferably is equal to the number of parallel threads, combinations may be employed in which the number of projections provided is less than the number of parallel threads. For example, a structure may be provided in which a stud having three parallel threads is employed and two projections are utilized, these projections being spaced from each other around the perimeter of the opening by an angular distance of about Other combinations in which the number of threads exceeds the number of projections may be employed, so long as the projections utilized are spaced about the perimeter of the opening by an angular distance equal to 360 divided by the number of parallel threads provided on the stud, or, in some cases. some multiple of this angular distance. For example, four parallel threads could be employed with two projections spaced 180 apart, if desired.

While the mounting assembly has been illustrated as applied to a support for refrigerator shelves, it will be apparent that the construction could beemployed with other walls or panels on which it might be desirable to mount such a stud.

Therefore, while I have shown and described a' specific embodiment of my invention, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the particular construction shown and described, and I intend, by the appended claims, to cover all modifications within the spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A shelf support assembly comprising a panel having a generally circular opening therein, and a shelf support stud received within said opening, said stud having a plurality of parallel threads thereon, said panel being shaped to provide at least two arch-like projections extending in the plane of said panel into said opening, the central portions of said projections being spaced about the perimeter of said opening by an angular distance equal to 360 divided by the number of parallel threads on said stud, the tip of each of said projections engaging a corresponding one of said threads.

2. A shelf support assembly comprising a panel having a generally circular opening therein, and a shelf support stud received within said opening, said stud having a plurality of parallel threads thereon, said panel being shaped to provide a plurality of arch-like projections extending in the plane of said panel into saidopening, said projections being equally spaced about the circumference of said opening and being equal in number to the number of threads on said stud, the tip of each of said projections engaging one of said threads.

ALFRED G. JANOS.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,930,645 Ellis Oct. 17, 1933 1,930,656 Nave Oct. 17, 1933 2,184,783 Tinnerman Dec. 26, 1939 2,271,469 Wilson Jan. 27, 1942 2,386,732 Wohlheiter Oct. 9, 1945 2,438,051 Hennessey Mar. 16, 1948 

